Phantom Nights
by mangaluva
Summary: Random collections about one of my favourite minor couples. All based on an elaborate headcanon that I made up after the Phantom Lady was brought up in DC. In no real order, but all part of the same continuity.  Toichi x Chikage
1. How We Met

_How We Met_

"How did you meet your husband?"

It's the kind of inane question that's always asked during bored conversations at social occasions. But it always makes her smile.

_Which meeting? The first time they spoke, in that darkened room, police sleeping on the floor, both of their hands hovering over the jewel, fingers brushing, causing both of them to freeze? He must have known who she was, because he moved his hand to take not the jewel but her hand, kissing it before he vanished into the darkness._

"_No gentleman ought to deny a lady her treasures."_

_It made her blush, in the dark; such manners in such a strange situation, between the most unlikely of people. Of course, he'd only backed off because he knew who she was, she was sure; knew her MO, knew that the jewel must be fake._

_Even so, she could still feel a tingle in her fingers. Later, having redonned her cop disguise and leaving with the rest, another officer winked at her. In later years, with bright smiles and joking tones, he'd comment that someone one-upping him like that had been the hottest thing he'd ever seen._

_Or was it the first time they'd worked together, bringing down that corrupt museum, always in disguise, all words cryptic and triple-layered, but that undercurrent, that interest, that desire, present beneath it all?_

_Or was it the first time they'd seen each others' true faces? Neither had expected the other to be at that gallery, taking different targets, of course. She certainly hadn't expected the man with the gun, the man in black. The Phantom Thief was a gentleman, as ever, the one who took the bullet. She hijacked the man's own glider, flew him back to her hideout, wrapped up the bullet wound that she was certain in his civilian self couldn't explain, and couldn't resist a look at his true face._

_When he awoke, she was enough of a lady to return the favour._

_When a friend called and asked why he wasn't at his place the next day, he explained it away by saying he'd had a wild night with a girl. A most incredible girl…_

In the eight years since she became a widow, Kuroba Chikage has rarely been asked how she met her husband. Those who do are surprised by how she smiles, even when she has such a simple, seemingly mundane answer.

"We met at work."

xxx

_So when I was in India, my muses had a weeklong obsession with Toichi x Chikage. I spent ages sitting in the sun, scribbling down a random collection of oneshots about them. I had a whole elaborate headcanon going, based largely on Chikage's brief appearance back in MK chapter one and the fleeting references to the Phantom Lady in DC. Then I got back and a twoshot of MK chapters immediately made half of my headcanon impossible :P I dithered about whether to post these anyway for a couple of months, and yesterday went "screw it, might as well, maybe it will make my muses interested in DC again *gives the stink-eye to _Spirit Detective_* Well, even if it doesn't, it'll be fun to post a few oneshots about one of my favourite couples. Basically, all oneshots were written _before_ the twoshot about the Phantom Lady. This is my headcanon._

_Also, MAJOR LOVE for MK episodes two and three. I'm so happy that they animated "Kaitou Kid's Busy Day", because Kaito and Aoko are all kinds of adorable, especially in the ice-cream scene at the end. SHIPLOVE! And apparently episode four is going to be based on the chapter where Akako appeared... :DDDDD_

_Magic Kaito does not belong to me. I just borrow the characters, play dress-up and tea party for a bit, and then try to sneak them back to Aoyama Gosho's room before he notices that they're gone._


	2. Actions

_Actions_

It started, as such things do, rather self-righteously. Students are rather volatile, idealistic people at the best of times, and being an artist as well doesn't help.

The first time she stole a forgery, she was nineteen, breaking into the University gallery, and she felt completely that it was the right thing to do. How dare the University trick its students like that, wasting a fortune on this junk when the money could be better spent on the dilapidated library or the sorely lacking departmental supplies?

She left a note, too. "If you can afford to spend fifteen million on crap, you can afford to lose fifteen million worth of crap." Then she joined the drama club, studying and quickly mastering makeup and disguise.

The University was hit six times over the next three years. So were seven other museums and galleries in the area. Detectives were brought in, art majors and other suspect students examined… but they never caught her out.

It felt amazing.

Like many of her fellow Art alumni, she decided to travel for a couple of years after graduation. Most did this to avoid getting a job; she did it to get into hers.

This was when the Phantom Lady joined the ranks of infamous global thieves, a thief whom nobody knew was coming until after she had left, leaving a lipstick-marked note in place of some painting or statue, found later broken and damaged and revealed for a forgery.

And it was during this time that another thief appeared on the scene, equally mysterious, one who took true prizes yet gave it all back: the Phantom Thief, Number 1412, Kaitou Kid.

That first night that she met him, in a pitch black exhibition hall while the police snored, she could tell that the fledgling criminal was interested in her. She brushed it off; she was an attractive, charismatic woman, interesting enough in civilian life, had no shortage of suitors and didn't particularly care if another joined their ranks, thief or not. Besides, she was still possessed by the self-righteousness of her cause, of her hatred of those who would defile art and even history itself with their cheap fakes.

But one night, finding herself once more lounging on a rooftop with the gentleman thief, discussing relative concepts of justice and law, he said something that stuck with her.

"Oh, I have good reasons for stealing. But I'd hate to lose sight of the fact that stealing is wrong. Not as wrong, perhaps, as… that which I hope to prevent, but… I simply do not wish to lose sight of the fact that doing the wrong thing for the right reasons is not the same as doing the right thing."

Those last words stuck with her, sinking into her mind and challenging many of her deepest perceptions about who she was and what she did.

And despite herself, she found herself… interested.

xxx

_Already playing "spot the reference" with this one, but I was deeply tempted to be more blatant and list said international thieves as including Arsene Lupin III, Carmen Sandiego and Zal Innez. I think they'd both like Zal…_

_Also, "doing the wrong thing for the right reasons is not the same thing as doing the right thing" was a line I wanted to fit into a fic for ages, but could never find a fic it suited. Then the plunnies jumped on Toichi and Chikage..._

_Magic Kaito does not belong to me. I just borrow the characters, play dress-up and tea party for a bit, and then try to sneak them back to Aoyama Gosho's room before he notices that they're gone._


	3. First Date

_First Date_

"Good evening, Kid-kun," said a soft, familiar voice, as a tall blonde took his arm. Toichi chuckled.

"Good evening, my Lady," he murmured. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Of my presence? That fake Van Nyuek in the east wing," she replied. "Of my company? They're face-checking everyone who enters the museum."

Toichi mentally cursed for not knowing that, but he smiled at the Phantom Lady, Poker Face keeping his thoughts from the surface. "Ah, I see." He spotted the queues in front of the cops' barricades, and switched to the deeper voice of the French man he was pretending to be. "Darling, let's not waste time on the Greco-Roman goddesses. It'll be like looking in a mirror for you!"

"Oh, you!" she giggled loudly, punching him playfully on the arm. They continued in this sickening vein until they were close to the gate and several officers were staring at them, at which point she pinched his cheek, careful to make it look hard but not damage his mask. He gave an exaggerated gasp, slapped his hand to his cheek to hide the lack of rising blood, and prodded her in the nose- again careful not to damage the mask. The cops, looking vaguely ill, waved them through. They kept it up for a few feet, and then sighed heavily once they were out of sight of the gate.

"I think I'm getting diabetes," Toichi sighed. The Phantom Lady smirked.

"I can't taste the sugar," she said, "but that's because I threw up a little in my mouth." They both laughed.

"So, is this a first date?" Toichi said cheekily. She rolled her eyes.

"We're past the face-checks, so I can push you out of a window now," she pointed out. He just chuckled.

"Then, my lady," he said, brushing a kiss over her hand, "I shall take my leave."

He vanished into the crowds.

xxx

_You have no idea how sane anything Kid does looks after an afternoon spent reading _Endgame._ Just what was Beckett smoking, and would the play make any more sense if I had some too? XD_

_Magic Kaito does not belong to me. I just borrow the characters, play dress-up and tea party for a bit, and then try to sneak them back to Aoyama Gosho's room before he notices that they're gone._


	4. Our Song

_Our Song_

It was a good night not to be arrested, the Phantom Lady mused. Especially since, her own theft of a forged Monet having gone off without a hitch, she'd found herself hanging out on the gallery rooftop with the Phantom Thief. He'd been pulling something separate and far noisier on a lower floor, which had likely contributed to the lack of attention to her own heist.

Funny how that kept happening these days.

They were chatting about this and that- great renaissance painters favourite brands of makeup, how many languages the officers chasing them could swear in- when the Thief suddenly held up a hand, signalling for silence. The Phantom Lady froze, alert to sounds of pursuit, but the sirens and shouting officers were too distant to be a problem. All else she could hear were the normal sounds of a city at night, at a time when the small or conscientious were in bed and the partiers were just getting started.

"What is it?" she finally broke down and asked, unwilling to admit ignorance in front of this seemingly omnipotent thief. He grinned cheekily, spreading his arms across the moonlit cityscape, like a conductor before an orchestra.

"It's our song," he said simply.

xxx

_This is probably my personal favourite of all the oneshots I wrote :)_

_Magic Kaito does not belong to me. I just borrow the characters, play dress-up and tea party for a bit, and then try to sneak them back to Aoyama Gosho's room before he notices that they're gone._


	5. Moving On

_Moving On_

"What's this?" Toichi said curiously, reading the note that Chikage had left out while applying the cheap, dark lipstick that she always kissed her notes with. She didn't like the oily feel of the cheap stuff, but so many women used it that it was damn near impossible to trace. She smiled, plucking the note from the desk in gloved hands.

"My retirement letter," she said, giving the note a quick peck and then reaching for the makeup wipes. "I'm stealing some false "relics", and then the Phantom Lady is no more."

"Why?" Toichi asked, voice pure curiosity but off-blue eyes searching, theorizing.

"Various reasons," she sighed, tucking the note away and peeling off her gloves. "For one, while the Phantom Lady and Kaitou Kid's paths have crossed before, the police are going to get suspicious if both suddenly start hitting similar areas or only appearing in turn shortly after an ex-Kid suspect marries an ex-Lady suspect. And I didn't marry you just to spend all my time in different countries to you. Sooner or later, one of us is going to have to give it up, and I feel that yours is a worthier cause than mine. Also, I'm not as manically idealistic as I was in college…"

"Who is?"

"…and I'd rather quit before I blunt my own edge. Third…" she sat down next to him, kissing him on the cheek. As she pulled away, she whispered in his ear, "I doubt I'll be as stealth or as easily disguised when I get big and fat."

The wording was, as 'twas ever thus between them, ambiguous, but the context was not. Toichi stared for a moment, before asking "How far-?"

"Nearly three months," she said with a smile. "Might be three now. I found out a couple of weeks ago."

"So you knew before I proposed?" Toichi asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Mmm… but I found the ring in your pocket and decided to leave off until after you proposed. I mean, how awkward is it to try to propose right after your girlfriend's told you she's pregnant?"

Toichi blinked. "…I love you."

"I know," Chikage giggled, leaning over to kiss him again, this time on the lips.

xxx

_I don't think you could surprise either of them with anything. I can imagine them casually going through each other's pockets every time they meet XDXDXD_

_Magic Kaito does not belong to me. I just borrow the characters, play dress-up and tea party for a bit, and then try to sneak them back to Aoyama Gosho's room before he notices that they're gone._


	6. Risk

_Risk_

"Toichi-sama, you don't know the first thing about this woman!"

"Not really, no."

"You don't know if she's working for or with anybody…"

"Well, I _suspect_ not."

"…What her motivations are…"

"Funsies?" Toichi parried Jii's deadpan glare with a look of perfect innocence. "What else is there?"

"For goodness' sake, Toichi-sama, she's as good at disguise as you- how do you know for sure she's even a woman?" Jii shot back, annoyed that, though Toichi had given no valid argument or rebuttal to any of his points, nonetheless, none seemed to have made an impact. This one made the magician roll his eyes, though.

"Things have come to a pretty pass, Jii-san," he said, striding off to put on his suit, "If _I _don't know a woman when I see one…"

Jii resisted the urge to facepalm. Kuroba Toichi was a handsome, talented charming young man, and unfortunately he knew it, and probably wouldn't even have to try to have any woman in the world. So why, oh why, would he have to be so fixated on the _only_ one who resisted, who was a danger, a risk, a challenge…

The urge to facepalm rose again. This was the man whose hobby was bedevilling the police, whose vocation was bedevilling short-tempered men with guns, who as a civilian had made a point of befriending the officer in charge of arresting him.

This was _Kuroba Toichi._ Why _wouldn't_ he? He was infatuated with risk, and given how much the Phantom Lady brought to the table, it was probably true love.

xxx

_Toichi's like Kaito; just loves living on the edge XD Have you done your homework, __**justjoy?**__ XDXD_

_Magic Kaito does not belong to me. I just borrow the characters, play dress-up and tea party for a bit, and then try to sneak them back to Aoyama Gosho's room before he notices that they're gone._


	7. True Faces

_True Faces_

Chikage smiled as she spotted the roof access door opening. She'd heard the yelling, swearing and occasional random bursts of circus music from another wing of the gallery, and after finishing her own business had decided that it might be worth greeting the Phantom Thief. He was always an interesting character.

He looked different tonight, though; harried, worried wary, utterly shocked to see her.

"My Lady," he said, tone smooth but his usual merriment absent. "What are you doing here?"

"Finished my business for the evening and thought I'd say hello," she said, twirling a fragment of cheap pottery in her fingers; she'd found that the favoured brand of false pottery ground down to powder pretty easily, and many a police officer chasing her down had unwittingly trod the heist into the ground. She dropped this piece under her heel, watching him with a frown. "Is something wrong?"

"For your own safety, I advise that you leave," he said seriously, examining the large ruby in the moonlight. "Now."

She quirked a hidden eyebrow. This was definitely odd behaviour. She'd never heard him speak so bluntly before, and she wasn't aware that he was even capable of stress. She stood to leave, automatically preparing some quip about her beauty distracting him from his work or somesuch, when she froze, feeling like she was being watched. She was used to this feeling, but it was the blank gaze of a security camera or the watchful, wary gaze of a police officer. This was neither. This was cold. This was malicious. This was a gaze that did not expect to hold for long, because it was attached to a gun.

The Kid clearly felt it too; they whipped around at the same moment, eyes alighting on the odd glint of moonlight off a sniper rifle.

"Get down!" he yelled, darting across the roof. Chikage heard the shots ring out, heard him grunt in pain; suddenly he grabbed her, pulling her off of the roof with him.

Part of Chikage desperately wanted to panic at the sudden tug of gravity, but she calmed herself, reminding herself that the Kaitou Kid flew. Her faith was rewarded a moment later when he jerked and their fall stopped, becoming a glide. She grabbed onto him as his grip abruptly slackened; he seemed to have passed out. How bad was he hit?

"_The glider's extended, if I can just figure out how to steer the damn thing…_" Hooking her legs around the unconscious thief (definitely unconscious, as no lewd remarks were forthcoming; he was a gentleman, but a gentleman lech), she peered over his shoulders, examining the framework of the hanglider and locating a pair of steering handles, which she folded down before peering over her own shoulder. Luckily, they were going in mostly the right direction…

With a slight crash-landing and some dragging, Chikage got him into the rented apartment; he really needed a hospital, but since she didn't know his civilian identity or whether it could explain bullet injuries, that had the potential to get extremely awkward. In any case, she'd dealt with some of the more unsavoury criminals in her time. She knew how to clean and dress a bullet wound.

With a jolt, she realized that his infamous top hat had been lost, probably knocked off by whatever bullet had left that bleeding wound on his head- a cleanup revealed that luckily, it was merely a scrape, purely superficial- and that, monocle aside, she was getting a good look at his true face.

He was Japanese too, which surprised her; he'd spoken Japanese before, but he'd also spoken English and Spanish and French and Italian and whatever else the local language had been at the time, as had she. He was also older than she'd expected; he wasn't _old_, god no, it was just that his demeanour had left her expecting a teenager, but in front of her was a young man who was clearly in his twenties, maybe even a year or two older than her. He was extremely good-looking, for all that, one of those young men who could carry off messy dark hair and look sexy instead of sloppy, and a check of his eyes revealed that he didn't usually wear coloured contacts. His eyes really _were_ that bright, brilliant blue she'd seen peeking at her from the shadows, an unusual shade that looked purple by moonlight...

She thought all of this while cleaning his wounds (both of the bullets to hit his torso had gone right through, thank god; digging out bullets was _never_ fun), finding time to note how hard and defined his lean muscles were, count how many similar scars marred his skin, and marvel at how much weird shit was in his jacket. He was already stirring when she removed his monocle and bandaged his forehead.

She changed quickly at the other end of the room- she was a master of disguise too, she could effect a full change in under five seconds- and then, before she could really think about it, removed her mask, dumped it aside, and went to sit next to his legs on the bed. She was contemplating the fact that the rented apartment had only one bed and he was in it when he awoke.

His features briefly registered surprised as his eyes locked onto her, before his beloved Poker Face slid into place. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't put another mask up," she chastised him. "Not after I decided to be a lady and remove mine, though I'll admit that that was after I took advantage of your unconsciousness to see _your_ face." She spoke in Japanese, a test and a challenge.

"Taking advantage of me in my sleep? How unladylike," he teased, also in Japanese, Tokyo accent. She smiled.

"So what now, Kid-san?" she said. "Actually, it feels strange to call you that now. I always expected you to be a teenager."

"Am I that immature?" he said in a deliberately whiny voice, smiling when she laughed. "Well, for what it's worth… what the hell, just call me by my name. Kuroba Toichi."

After a moment's hesitation, she took the plunge. He could be telling her a fake name, but how would he know whether or not she was doing the same? "Aomori Chikage."

He took her hand, kissing it and winking. "A pleasure to meet you, Lady Chikage."

xxx

_This kind of thing happens a lot with me; I get a great mental image, but I can't draw it, so I write it instead. I hope the oneshot managed to paint an image in your mind as lovely as the one in mine._

_Magic Kaito does not belong to me. I just borrow the characters, play dress-up and tea party for a bit, and then try to sneak them back to Aoyama Gosho's room before he notices that they're gone._


	8. Wedding Night

_Wedding Night_

It was one of the best nights of her life.

The idea of a Vegas wedding was tacky to many, but somehow, it seemed to perfectly encapsulate everything that their relationship was. They were always travelling, anyway, and neither had any family; who did they have to put on a show for?

Of course they still got a fairly classy one. The "priest" was in an Armani suit, there was a little champagne, there was a honeymoon suite in a very nice hotel/casino (in Vegas, _everything_ was a /casino), and there was a minimum of neon. They wrote their own vows, which to the confusion of the priest, were more cryptic poems, with plenty about loving and honouring one another, and all the parts about obedience omitted. Obedience in any form didn't come easily to either of them. Conventional vows wouldn't have worked for either of them. They weren't a conventional couple.

Despite Toichi's frequent jokes about how tough diamond store security was, they'd bought the rings. Platinum, soft grey- her colour- and white diamonds- his colour. So small, plain, unassuming, precious.

And then there'd been a _lot_ of dinner, and then the honeymoon suite, and then, much later, they'd found they had roof access (or at least they did after Chikage got her hairpins out), and looked across Las Vegas at night, listening to the sounds of the city that never slept. Another remix of their song.

They watched until the city finally fell asleep, just as dawn broke across it. They returned to their air-conditioned room, because daytime in Vegas was _damn_ hot. No wonder everything happened at night.

It was their kind of city.

xxx

_I swear, Vegas is the hottest place that I've ever been too. We went out at 11pm to see the fountains in front of the Caesar and nearly got heatstroke. I'm pretty sure that if you go outside during the day, you spontaneously combust._

_Also, FYI- LION KING 3D IS THE GREATEST THING IN ALL OF CINEMA EVER. There were three small children in the cinema and fifty Uni students singing along, sobbing our eyes out at Mufasa's death, laughing our asses off at Timone and Pumba, and swearing profusely at Scar. THAT is how to make 3D look good. It was AMAZING :D_

_Magic Kaito does not belong to me. I just borrow the characters, play dress-up and tea party for a bit, and then try to sneak them back to Aoyama Gosho's room before he notices that they're gone._


	9. Waiting

_Waiting_

Kaito had left in such a hurry that he hadn't turned the portrait around properly. Chikage looked at the Kaitou Kid for a while, before revolving it carefully so that it was Toichi smiling out at her. She knew every line, every shade of that painting (she was rather fond of art, don'tcherknow), a long time ago- but in the moonlight, there seemed to be a little extra life to it.

Chikage sat back, watching the painting, listening to the sounds of Tokyo at night. Tonight's cover was heavy on the sirens, and the radio that she'd left on regularly updated her as to why. Heist. Chase. Shooting. Police strikes. Arrests, a list she imagined resembled the back page of a menu in a nice restaurant.

She sat there until dawn, listening with half an ear to the radio and mostly to the ebb of the sounds of the night, the moonlight and Toichi's smile soothing her as they always had.

xxx

_Not much to say about this one. I have tickets to the _Scotland Loves Anime_ mystery screening on Sunday, though :D It would make my life if it turns out to be _Sacred Stars of Milos_ or _Lost Ship In The Sky_, but it totally won't be._

_Magic Kaito does not belong to me. I just borrow the characters, play dress-up and tea party for a bit, and then try to sneak them back to Aoyama Gosho's room before he notices that they're gone._


	10. The Third

_The Third_

It was the _other_ best night of his life.

Chikage had insisted that he do his show. She was feeling fine, she insisted, she still had a couple of weeks, he'd promised to do this show tonight. As a gentleman, he couldn't refuse his lady's commands, and he _had_ promised to do the show. It was a charity gig, and standing one of them up was probably all _kinds_ of bad juju.

When one of the organisers beckoned to him offstage, holding up a "The hospital called- your wife's in labor!" sign, he had to hope cutting one short wasn't. He jubilantly announced his news to the crowd, bowed in farewell, vanished in a puff of smoke, and yelled and the ventriloquist that his act had been moved forward by twenty minutes on his way out of the door.

He was just in the nick of time. Chikage later said that she'd been braced for the hours of pushing and suffering that every other woman went on about, but really, it had all gone as smoothly as a heist. Toichi suggested that their little boy was already a gentleman, and didn't want to make a lady suffer.

Their little boy. Because they had a shared mischievous streak a mile wide, they named him Kaito. He was certainly something special. Even the eloquent, silver-tongued Kuroba Toichi was speechless, staring down at what they had created.

"He looks just like you," Chikage said tenderly. Toichi tutted.

"_Really_ now. I think he looks very handsome."

Chikage elbowed him weakly. "He is. He's beautiful."

"More precious than any shiny rock or stained cloth I've ever seen," Toichi said, kneeling by the bed to get as close to his son as possible.

"Far more," Chikage agreed, cuddling her son close, one hand curling around her husband's. "Toichi?"

"Hmm?" Toichi said vaguely, still spellbound.

"We might have to start being…" she said softly. Toichi looked up, staring at her in horror.

"No," he gasped. "You don't mean…"

Chikage nodded. "Responsible."

xxx

_The next one's the last one of these I wrote. If I ever come up with something else, I may add it on, but my muses are busy elsewhere for now :P_

_Magic Kaito does not belong to me. I just borrow the characters, play dress-up and tea party for a bit, and then try to sneak them back to Aoyama Gosho's room before he notices that they're gone._


	11. The Last Night

_The Last Night_

A lot of people said that the nights were the worst for them, but Chikage never felt that way. The nights had always been _their_ time; now, even with Toichi gone, the nights still soothed her, the touch of moonlight on her skin smoothing away all of the aches and pains and nausea.

The nights, for Chikage, were easier than the days. The days brought with them visiting hours, and with them her son, always smiles and chatter to her but so very strained and worried, she could see it. She could almost mistake him for Toichi these days, but he was older than her husband had been when he'd died. He'd made it to see his kids reach high school, and, as she sometimes teased him, he'd made it to see his first gray hairs, thought she knew that they were probably down to her.

Aoko and the children came often, too, but every day there was Kaito, and the days were so much harder than the nights.

That night, she lay listening to the sounds of Tokyo at night, and couldn't help smiling a little as she heard police sirens in the distance. "Our song," she murmured.

"Dance to it with me, my lady?"

The moonlight almost seemed to become fingers, wrapped around hers. Chikage smiled more broadly.

And then there were sirens going off on her monitors, panicking doctors and nurses, all desperately trying to pull her back, but nobody could catch her if she didn't want them to, and she slipped them easily, the Phantom Lady once more…

And then, under the moonlight, the two Phantoms danced into the night.

xxx

_I kept this one back to post last because it seemed appropriate. If I write more, of course, I'll probably post them here, but for now, I'm out of oneshots. Hope you liked them! :)_

_Magic Kaito does not belong to me. I just borrow the characters, play dress-up and tea party for a bit, and then try to sneak them back to Aoyama Gosho's room before he notices that they're gone._


End file.
